Lawmakers pass CPRIT reform bill

Less than a week after Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas leaders came under fire from lawmakers in Austin, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services unanimously approved a bill to reform the state's $3 billion cancer agency.

"Our laws and rules have been twisted in ways that are disappointing and unacceptable," Nelson said in a statement. "[The bill] reinforces our clear legislative intent that CPRIT be operated in a fair, transparent manner that is befitting of its lifesaving mission. We will not allow the actions of a few individuals to stand in the way of our effort to find treatments and cures for this terrible disease."

Nelson was one of the legislative designers of CPRIT. She said the bill will:

Restructure CPRIT leadership

Establish a strict compliance program

Establish a committee to oversee peer review

Prohibit CPRIT officials from having business relationships with grant winners

CPRIT's dealings came under scrutiny last year after it was reported that an $11 million award to Dallas-based Peloton Therapeutics was made without the required business or scientific reviews of Peloton.